DA Joe Early Jr. wins fourth term, fends of challenger Blake Rubin

Walter Bird Jr. Editor @walterbirdjr/@worcestermag

Wednesday

Nov 7, 2018 at 12:49 AMNov 7, 2018 at 12:54 AM

In the end, voters decided it wasn’t quite time for Joe to go.

District Attorney Joe Early Jr., on an election day that saw heavy voter turnout many tied directly to a referendum on President Donald Trump, scored a fourth term in office, as the incumbent Democrat soundly beat back a challenge from Independent first-time challenger Blake Rubin Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Early defeated Rubin by roughly 70-30 percent, according to unofficial results Tuesday night.

The resounding win came just days after his opponent, whose campaign slogan was “It’s time for Joe to go,” had called on him to resign. When all was said and done, however, Early held onto his seat, the results putting to bed one of the more bitterly-contested campaigns of the 2018 election in Worcester County, with the DA preparing to serve four more years.

“It has been the greatest privilege and honor of my life to serve the people of Worcester County for the last 12 years as your District Attorney,” the 61-year-old Early said in remarks delivered to a jubilant crowd of supporters at El Basha restaurant on Park Ave. “Over the course of this election, I have had the opportunity to speak with thousands of residents across Worcester County about our successful work preventing crime, protecting victims, tackling the opioid crisis head-on with understanding and compassion, and our efforts to strengthen the criminal justice system including through key reforms. Thanks to our community outreach programs, we have seen a dramatic drop in violent and juvenile crime across the county.”

Vowing his office was not done yet, Early assured residents he would “continue fighting for our community and the people of Worcester County every single day.”

Rubin, meanwhile, said he was proud of the campaign he ran, and was effusive in his praise of his supporters.

“I’m very proud of each and every person that worked as hard as humanly possible for me, for a cause I believe in with my heart,” the 52-year-old defense attorney, who once worked for Early as a prosecutor, said. “I’m just amazed and thankful for my family and my friends and the hundreds and hundreds of people I never knew before I got involved in this race, that just came out and worked their tails off for me, and joined in a cause I believe in.”

It was a hard-fought campaign that saw Rubin accuse Early of lying, failing to recruit people of color in his office and being soft on crime. Early, meanwhile, kept a relatively low pres profile during the campaign, save for the lone debate between the two candidates, an Oct. 22 tilt at Worcester State University where Rubin called out Early on what easily had become the biggest issue of the campaign.

The 2017 arrest of a Dudley District Court judge’s daughter, Alli Bibaud, by State Police, and the subsequent changing of her arrest report ignited a firestorm of controversy. It set off a sequence of events that ultimately saw the resignation of, among others, the State Police’s top cop, Col. Rich McKeon, and saw Early referred to the state Ethics Commission amid claims he was involved in the altering of the original arrest report, which reportedly contained comments from Bibaud regarding the exchange of sexual favors for drugs as well as for leniency from police. Early has steadfastly denied the allegation, positioning himself as a “compassionate” DA who was ensuring Bibaud would not be subject to prejudice before her right to a trial.

During the campaign, Early accused Rubin of sensationalizing the case and smearing Bibaud’s reputation. He accused Rubin of running a negative campaign, something Rubin brushed off Tuesday night.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “I ran a complete issues campaign. Each and every issue I raised was factual. I brought to the public’s attention facts that I supported with data of things, incidents, issues that I disagreed with in how [Early] ran his office. I think his characterization of running a negative campaign is false, but once again this is coming from a man who has been shown, on numerous occasions, to have said one thing and then said another.”

At least one Early voter, however, said he was turned off by Rubin’s campaign.

Duquette also said he was not turned off from Early by the Bibaud case or other issues Rubin raised.

Rubin said he called Early to congratulate him on his win. He also complimented the DA on the conduct of his assistant district attorneys, against whom Rubin practiced in court during the campaign.

“The most important thing I was impressed with was the way his assistant DAs reamined professional throughout the entire race with me,” Rubin said. “They were true professionals. They were good people who treated me with the utmost respect. I complimented Joe on the fact he was able to somehow keep the politics out of the courtroom.”

Rubin, saying he “worked his butt off” during the campaign, said Early told him he was proud of the effort he put into the race.

For his part, Early praised his employees, who he said “do such a great job.”

“They go unrecognized day in and day out,” he said of the 165 people who work for him. “They’re in the trenches every day helping victims of crime. I ran on a theme 12 years ago of prevention, saying I’d rather prevent a crime than have to solve a crime. What’s happened? Juvenile delinquency complaints are down 57 percent. If you want to get numbers down in the jail, you attack at the juvenile level.”

Early touted his office’s nationally-accredited Child Advocacy Center, the first in Worcester County; doubling the size of his victim witness staff from 11 to 23; diversion and outreach programs; and other efforts.

“It’s all made a difference,” he said, “and the voters, they recognized that. They’re very smart. They said to us, ‘Please keep up the fight.’”

As for ways he could improved the DA’s office, including the lack of diversity, Early said, “We’re always trying to get better, no matter what it is. One thing about a campaign is it makes you look at a lot of things you’re doing and say, ‘Can we get better? How do we get better?’ You can always get better.”

With the election over, Rubin said his next step is diving back into his law practice. He also said he and his partner have to find a new office, because who they were leasing from moved.

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